Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-06-10

Killed. However nothing happened to him.
and things went Oh as usual till the 18TH Of
February, on which day an attack was made,
on place called the Red House Kraal, which
was occupied by Beers, near a spot known a.,
the Six Mile Spruit.
The force, which was mixed one, loft
Pretoria before daybreall, and John went
with it. He was rather surprised when, Ola
going to the cart in which jess slept, to get
some little thing before saddlng up, to find
her sitting on the box i'll the night dews with o.
cup of coffee she had prepared for him i'll her
hand.
"What do you mean by this jess" he asked
sharply. 81 will not have you getting up liz
the middle of tho night to make coffee fox
me-"
81 have not got up" She answered, quietly
81 have not been to bed"
"That makes matters worse" he said; but
nevertheless he drank the coffee, and was glad
to get it, while she sat ON the box and watched
him.
"Put on your shawl and get something over
your head" he said, 'the dew will soak yoa
through Look, your hair is all wet"
Presently she spoke II wish you would de-
something for me, john" for she called hiul
John now. "Will you promises"
"How like a woman" be said, "to ask one
to promise thing without saying what it is.
| u want you 10 promise Tor BeSsleS sake"
she said.
"Well, what is it, JESSE"
"Not to go on this sorte. You know YOU
can easily get out of it if you like"
He laughed "You little silly why notYo
"Oh, | don't know. Don't laugh at me, be-
cause am nervous. l am afraid that-that
something might happen to you"
SWELL" he remarked, Consolngly, "every-
bullet has its billet and if it does don't sec
that it can be helped"
"Thnk of Bessie" she said again.
"Look here, JESS" he answered testify,
"what is the good of trying to take the heart.
out of a fellow like thisi If l am going to be,
shot l can't help it, and l am not going to.
show tho white feather, even for Bessie's
sake SO there you are and now | must BE-
off"
"You are quite right, John," she said, qui--
city; 81 should not have liked to hear you
say anything different, but could not help.
speaking. Good by, John; God bless your
and she stretched down her hand, which he
took and went.
"Upon my word, she has given me quite g,
turn" reflected John to himself as the troop,
crept on through the white mists of dawn.
81 suppose that she thinks that l am going co
be plugged Perhaps | am. l wonder how
Bessie would take it, She would be awfully
tuu up, DuO tAItCu UuuI SIG NOulu Seb OSct
it pretty soon. Now don't think that Jess
would get over a thing of that sort in hurry
That is just the difference between the two
the one is all flower and the other is all root -
And then he fell to wondering how Bessie
was and what she was doing, and if she missed
him as much as he missed her, and 50 on, till
his mind came back to jess, and lie reflected
what charming companion she was, anG
how thoughtful and kind, and breathed Il
secret hope that she would continue to live
with them after they were married. Some
how they had got to those terms perfectly
innocent in themselves, in which two people
become absolutely necessary to each others
daily life. Indeed. Jess had got Il long way
further than that hut of this he was of course
ignorant. lie was Still at the former stage
and was not himself aware how large u pro
portion of his daily thoughts were occupied
by this dark eyed girl, or how completely her
personality was overshadowing him. He only
knew that she had the inack of making him
feel thoroughly happy in her society. Wher
he was talking to her, or even sitting silently
by her, he became aware of sensation OF
restfulness and reliance that he had never be-
fore experienced in the society of Il woman.
OF course this was to n large ext ent the
natural homage of the weaker nature TO the
stronger, but it was also something more. 1t
was the shadow of that utter sympathy and
perfect accord which is the surest sign of the
presence of the highest forms of affection
and when it accompanies the passion of men
and women, as it sometimes, though rarely
does, being moro often found in its Highest
form in those relations from which the element
of seXuality is excluded, raises it almost above.
the level of the earth Fer the love where.
that sympathy exists whether it is between
mother and son, husband and wife, OF those
who, while desiring it, have no hope of that
relationship, is an undying love and will en-
dure till tho night of Time has swallowed all
things.
Meanwhile as John reflected, the force to-
which he was attached was moving into &C
ton, and no soon found it necessary To come
down to the unpleasautly practical details OF
Boer warfare. More particularly did this
come home to his mind when, shortly after.
ward, the man next to him was shot dead,
and little later he himself was slightly
wounded by bullet which passed between
his saddle and his thigh. Into the details of
the light that ensued it is not necessary to
enter here. They were, If ANYTHING, more
dlscreditable than mot of the episodes of
tn Il unhappy war, in which the holdin- of
fotchestroom, l-ydenburG, KuStenburg and
Wakkerstroom are the only bl-ht slats-
Suffice it to say that they ended in eoriet hing
very like an utter rout at the hands of u
much inferior force, and that, few hours
after he had started John found himself ON
the return road to Pretoria, with u severely
wounded man behind his saddle the amhu-
lance being left in the hands of the Baeisl.
who, as they went painfully along, mingled
curses Of shame and fury with his own.
Meanwhile exaggerated accounts Of what had
happened had got into the town, and, among
other things, it was said that Capt Mel
had been shot dead. One man who came in
stated that he saw him fall, and that he Was
shot through the head his Mrs Neville
heard with her own ears, and, greatly shocked,
started to communicate the Intelligence to
jess.
AS soon as it was daylight jess had, rs was
customary with her, gone over to the little
house which she and John occupied, The